The Book of Genesis Dual Authorship of The Creation Narrative
The book of Genesis in the Hebraic Bible begins the creation story ofthe world, rather than specifically of the nation of Israel or the Israelipeople. Unlike the Exodus narrative, which often takes up the bulk ofBiblical and historical scriptural criticism of the Hebraic Bible, thefirst two books of Exodus detail not a moment of dated time, but indeedbefore such 'dates' could occur. But even from the beginnings of thisnarrative of origins, Genesis' first two books contain a dual perspective,or two dueling authorships that the redactor, or editor, later attempted tocombine in a seamless whole. (Friedman, 1997) The first viewpoint or authorial voice heard in Genesis, as expressedalong the general lines of the documentary hypothesis of Biblicalauthorship, is that of "E" or Elohim. The author "E" is the epic sourcewhose stories always refer to God by the name 'Elohim'. According toRichard Friedman, is thought that this author's collection of tales emergedfrom the northern kingdom of Israel. "E" as an author is generally moreconcerned with the philosophical and theological content of the stories herelates than the personalities of the individuals involved. (Friedman,
" Again, the reference to God as Elohim alwayswas concerned with "priestly and legalistic" matters, in contrast to J'sconstant use of mythic and personalized tropes. Rather, most scholars assume that thePentateuch's interlocking narratives were communicated through orallyreceived traditions for many generations before being gradually compiledand written down over the course of time. Inthe first narrative, we as readers first encounter God acting like a forceof nature, creating the heavens and the earth in an orderly fashion. Thisis why "J", some (like the University of Chicago literary critic HowardBloom) have speculated, was a woman, or at least came from outside thereceived traditions and structures of the priesthood. ") 'J'as an author was thought to have emerged from Judah, the southern Kingdom,after the civil war in which Israel split into two kingdoms, that of Israelin the north, and Judea in the south. In this,both J and E, in their unique ways, are distinguished. However, this is only according to the "E" source. " (Freidman,i-ii) Although this point of view still causes consternation amongstfundamentalist critics, Jewish and Christian, it is important to note thatJE's perspective, viewed holistically, may offer, in literary terms, themost fulfilling perspective of human creation, even in a spiritual sense. The desire to tracethe authorship of the book of Genesis to two different authors is calledthe "documentary hypothesis. " For instance, while in "E," adepersonalized force of God creates the heavens, and all of the individualbeings that inhabit the earth, it is from "J" that we receive the tale ofAdam and Eve and the tempting serpent. (The Documentary Hypothesis,Website of the Campus Program, 2004) Of course, colloquially, in the religious traditions of both Jews andChristians, all of the first five books of the Pentateuch are attributed tothe singular voice and narrative vision and hand of Moses. Consider how E's perspective of God making the heavens and the earth uponone day, then animals and humans the next, puts human life into a larger,meta-perspective, while J's focus on the moral dilemma's of humanity interms of free will and choice, and God as a mirror for the face of man andwoman creates a perspective stressing the moral nature of God's specificrelationship to humanity and the context and view of the divine as seenthrough uniquely human eyes. (35) Even though thebook of Genesis may have dual authorship, and contain two differentperspectives of the creation of humanity and the nature of God, still Godemerges from a coherent, if multifaceted tradition.
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Acceptance Essays
